CSE's Work on Draft Legal Framework for Conservation and Protection of Inland Wetlands in South Asia

CSE has been researching on the state of waterbodies in India and South Asia. The research findings from India have been published in Excreta Matters: The Seventh State of Environment Report. It is clear from the research studies that there is no clear law for the protection of waterbodies, catchments and the feeder channels in South Asian countries including India. Recently CSE has also conducted a research study on restoration of cascading tanks in Anuradhapura district of Sri Lanka. CSE had organised several knowledge sharing seminar on the state of wetlands and lakes in different countries like Bangladesh (Dhaka and Khulna), Sri Lanka and Nepal and it was clear that there is a need of a legal framework for the protection of waterbodies in the South Asian countries.

CSE worked jointly with the Enviro Legal Defence Firm (ELDF) to come up with a draft framework legislation which may be presented to different law making authorities in the South Asian countries (including India). The framework has taken care of the loopholes of the existing laws and policies related to the protection and conservation of wetlands. The legal framework is the starting point for a set of activities that will include recommendations to the central and state governments about appropriate institutional and technical measures for wetland protection.

The process of finalisation of the draft involved the following steps:

Research on the existing policies and acts related to conservation, use and protection of wetlands in South Asia and other parts of the world

Development of questionnaire for getting inputs on the existing laws, policies and acts from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka

Review of the laws, policies and acts from the respective countries

Detailing of the case laws and its analyses

Development of the structure of the legal framework on the basis of structured advice from South Asian countries

Detailing of the framework following best practices and case laws

Consultation meeting with representatives from South Asian (including India) partners to analyse each section of the draft

Incorporation of the suggestions and comments in the draft and finalisation of the draft

CSE's consultation meeting was held on December 17-18, 2013, where eminent lawyers, legal advisers, prominent NGOs from different South Asian countries attended to scrutinise the framework and share their comments. The following persons attended the meeting:

CSE is putting up this draft as a working draft and inviting comments from NGOs, legal advisers, practitioners and researchers from South Asian countries.

We also request researchers, legal experts and NGOs or any one related to wetland from South Asian countries to fill up the questionnaire so that a detailed analysis of the laws/acts/policies/case laws related to wetlands can be made.

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